Kiefer Sutherland set to surrender on minor assault charges for headbutting

Kiefer Sutherland is expected to surrender to face an assault charge for going all Jack Bauer a fashion on a fashion designer at a party this week, but it could have been worse.

Sutherland supposedly will only face a third-degree assault charge for the headbutting on designer Jack McCollough, the New York Daily News reports.

The 24 actor will be issued a desk appearance ticket for the misdemeanor, meaning he won’t be jailed (in NY) and will be free to travel before he’s arraigned.

However Sutherland, is currently serving a five-year probation term in Los Angeles for his second DUI conviction, and may have violated those terms, which clearly state the actor must “obey all laws.”

Sutherland was originally going to surrender to police in a few weeks, but his lawyer worked out a more hasty surrender after the media discovered the actor was still in New York at his girlfriend’s Greenwich Village apartment, sources said. His lawyers also are expected to hammer out a cash settlement with McCollough.

Sporting a fresh cut across the bridge of his nose and shielding his eyes with Oakley sunglasses, McCollough told The News yesterday outside his West Village apartment he’s “doing fine.”

McCollough’s representatives insisted the head smacking at an after-party for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute gala on Monday was unprompted.